Global Entry Question

hgcrnp

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Planning to get Global Entry for DH and myself, mainly for the TSA Precheck but also in case we do travel internationally in the next 5 years. Our kids are 5 and 8. If I am reading the rules correctly they will not be able to use our Global Entry if coming back into the US and going through customs but they would be able to go through security lines with our included TSA Precheck? Is this correct?
 
They can use your precheck through TSA, yes. Make sure precheck is on your boarding passes.

If you live near Canada, check out nexus. It gives you the nexus benefits, plus GE, which of course gives you precheck.

Cheaper for the adults and free for the kids.

But you have to get to a nexus site for the interviews.
 
They can use your precheck through TSA, yes. Make sure precheck is on your boarding passes.

If you live near Canada, check out nexus. It gives you the nexus benefits, plus GE, which of course gives you precheck.

Cheaper for the adults and free for the kids.

But you have to get to a nexus site for the interviews.

Okay, thank you!
I had looked into Nexus as well. We live about as close to Niagara Falls, NY as we do to the airport I'd need to go to and do Global Entry...
Was a little nervous about how long it said it would take to get an appointment there. If I book plane tickets for November when Southwest opens their schedule (I think sometime in May) can I add the Nexus info to the tickets after they are already booked?
Also, is the Nexus process/interview a lot more intense than GE I saw something about needing to meet with both Canada and US personnel and wasn't sure if that could all be done at the US interview location.
 
Okay, thank you!
I had looked into Nexus as well. We live about as close to Niagara Falls, NY as we do to the airport I'd need to go to and do Global Entry...
Was a little nervous about how long it said it would take to get an appointment there. If I book plane tickets for November when Southwest opens their schedule (I think sometime in May) can I add the Nexus info to the tickets after they are already booked?
Also, is the Nexus process/interview a lot more intense than GE I saw something about needing to meet with both Canada and US personnel and wasn't sure if that could all be done at the US interview location.

You can add the information later. You can also look to see what the appointment calendar is like in advance (need to find the link again). The reason that all the NEXUS centres are on/near the border (or at airports with CBP pre-clearance) is because they do the interviews together. At Pearson (Toronto airport) each booth has both a US and a Canadian agent. I think at some land-crossings, you do have to go to two places (but just on either side of the border).

Found it - https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/schedulerui...returnUrl=https://ttp.cbp.dhs.gov/&service=nh

For Niagara Falls, you could get something today (cancellation, I assume) and starting in May, almost every day has something (admittedly, I'm only looking for one person).
 


You can add the information later. You can also look to see what the appointment calendar is like in advance (need to find the link again). The reason that all the NEXUS centres are on/near the border (or at airports with CBP pre-clearance) is because they do the interviews together. At Pearson (Toronto airport) each booth has both a US and a Canadian agent. I think at some land-crossings, you do have to go to two places (but just on either side of the border).


For Niagara Falls, you could get something today (cancellation, I assume) and starting in May, almost every day has something (admittedly, I'm only looking for one person).

Awesome, thanks so much! We had originally started looking into this just for PreCheck to make security lines with kids easier and then GE seemed like a no brainer for us just in case.

But really, Nexus sounds like the best way to go. It seemed too good to be true that it was so much cheaper with all the same benefits of GE! Can likely make a day of it and take kids to the falls since it looks like they have Saturday appts. Thanks again for your help!
 
If I book plane tickets for November when Southwest opens their schedule (I think sometime in May) can I add the Nexus info to the tickets after they are already booked?

Yep. That’s exactly what we did.

Also, is the Nexus process/interview a lot more intense than GE I saw something about needing to meet with both Canada and US personnel and wasn't sure if that could all be done at the US interview location.

It’s intense bc you meet with both. But they are both there, which is why the locations are right near borders (with the one exception that I know of being the King County airport south of Seattle).

We went up to Blaine for our interviews. Talked to the US guy then shuffled over two feet to talk to the Canadian guy.

Note! They take your picture. The picture is on the card. Be aware of that if looking nice in a picture is important to you. I totally spaced on that, and my pic is atrocious lol.


It feels too good to be true even once you have it. And yet it works.
 
Yep. That’s exactly what we did.



It’s intense bc you meet with both. But they are both there, which is why the locations are right near borders (with the one exception that I know of being the King County airport south of Seattle).

We went up to Blaine for our interviews. Talked to the US guy then shuffled over two feet to talk to the Canadian guy.

Note! They take your picture. The picture is on the card. Be aware of that if looking nice in a picture is important to you. I totally spaced on that, and my pic is atrocious lol.


It feels too good to be true even once you have it. And yet it works.

Thanks so much for mentioning it initially. I had discounted it thinking that it would somehow not work for PreCheck, as that's really all we for sure need. After standing in security at MCO the last time we went I will do anything to avoid that again!!!
 


And they ask questions like “why do you want this?” It was perfectly acceptable to say “because I want to make going to vancouver easier for running events” lol. So don’t stress about that stuff. They just want to watch you answer, I think.

Of course with me, almost as soon as we got it, the running event series left Vancouver lol.

And it was a nice drive and family day, just like you’re thinking to do.
 
And they ask questions like “why do you want this?” It was perfectly acceptable to say “because I want to make going to vancouver easier for running events” lol. So don’t stress about that stuff. They just want to watch you answer, I think.

Of course with me, almost as soon as we got it, the running event series left Vancouver lol.

And it was a nice drive and family day, just like you’re thinking to do.

Sorry, two more questions...how long did it take after you applied for you to get the go ahead to schedule your interview?
Second, have you always gotten the PreCheck on your boarding pass? I read somewhere else that someone didn't get it with the Nexus card...but maybe they did some other step wrong or something.

Also, good to know about the questions. I will likely need to prepare DH as his answer would probably be..."because my wife said this is the thing we needed to do to keep from yelling at each other in the security line" :tongue:
 
Sorry, two more questions...how long did it take after you applied for you to get the go ahead to schedule your interview?
Second, have you always gotten the PreCheck on your boarding pass? I read somewhere else that someone didn't get it with the Nexus card...but maybe they did some other step wrong or something.

Also, good to know about the questions. I will likely need to prepare DH as his answer would probably be..."because my wife said this is the thing we needed to do to keep from yelling at each other in the security line" :tongue:

You are not guaranteed to get Pre-Check all the time even with having a KTN. But that seems to happen few and far between.

Also after you make your appointment I believe you can keep checking and see if any time closer opens up and change your appointment.
 
Thanks so much for mentioning it initially. I had discounted it thinking that it would somehow not work for PreCheck, as that's really all we for sure need. After standing in security at MCO the last time we went I will do anything to avoid that again!!!

The security line at MCO is why I got PreCheck too. Had an atrocious experience (well over an hour and then TSA opening another line behind us and letting all the people behind me through, so those people were through well before me. Came home and started researching precheck and got it less than 2 months later (and that was with having to order a new copy of my birth certificate from out of state). Nexus sounds great, but was not convenient for me and I have no travel plans abroad, so I just went with TSA PreCheck. It was so great a few weeks ago - I was through security in under 5 minutes while the regular lines were ridiculous!
 
if all you want is PRE then there are a bunch of places you can do the interview ... you don't need to see and actual 'agent' ... they do it at our county tax office ... in some places you can do it at STAPLES!

you can check here: https://universalenroll.dhs.gov/locator?serviceCode=11115V&programs=precheck

For GE you probably WILL have to go to an airport BUT check all the airports close by .... when we did this last year the waiting time for Orlando International was MONTHS but at SANFORD there were appt's the following week!!!!
 
Also check your credit cards to see if they will re-imburse you for the Pre/GE application charge. Most of the higher end travel cards offer it.
 
Sorry, two more questions...how long did it take after you applied for you to get the go ahead to schedule your interview?
Second, have you always gotten the PreCheck on your boarding pass? I read somewhere else that someone didn't get it with the Nexus card...but maybe they did some other step wrong or something.

Also, good to know about the questions. I will likely need to prepare DH as his answer would probably be..."because my wife said this is the thing we needed to do to keep from yelling at each other in the security line" :tongue:

That answer would probably be totally fine, actually. They seem to want a genuine answer, not some perfect one.


I have always gotten pre with my KTN.

My now-ex didn’t always *initially* get it with GE. But that’s because the different airlines don’t always play the same way with the systems. He would check in at 24 hours, say he didn’t get it. I’d go into his airline account (almost always United) and edit his checkin, manually entering the KTN, and boom, like magic, the boarding pass would end up with pre.

I keep a file with the KTNs so I can manually enter them just in case, and it has always worked. I got to call SW last year because their system was even weirder. My brother made travel plans for me and my son, and it was linked to our SW accounts, but wasn’t picking up our KTNs. So I called, and inside of two minutes she’d attached the numbers to the tickets, and we had pre on those boarding passes.

I feel like the appt was for a month or so out? I could have gone to King County airport but that was monthS out. So we drove the 3 hours up to the border instead. Not all areas have choices, though.

Getting the number was VERY quick, though.
 
There are a three of waiting periods:
1) Time from submitting applications to getting provisional clearance (which allows you to book your interview). When I did my renewal this summer, this took about three months. I thought mine was long because it was a bit complicated - since getting my NEXUS, I've lived in three countries (two continents), had (and then dropped) US residency status, had two US G4 (diplomatic) visas, got a UN Laissez Passer (essentially a passport-like thing that people who work for international organizations can travel on, and had something like 24 countries in my list of countries visited (including a few that raised eyebrows, or at least questions from the US agent at the interview). However, my aunt and uncle with very simple renewal took about the same time.

Looking at Flyertalk, it looks to be about 2 months right now (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tru...me-applications-processing-timelines-115.html).

Also, note that they don't send you an email that this has come through (at least they don't for the renewal), you have to just keep checking your account.

2) Time from getting provisional clearance to getting interview. This can vary greatly. Depends on how many of you there are and the location you want (as Bumbershoot says, different places have different availability). If you can only book far out, keep checking for cancellations, I was able to snack an appointment at Pearson Airport (a busy one) a few days after getting my notice because there was a cancellation.

3) Time from interview to getting your card. This took about 10 days for my renewal. It's pretty quick.


Honestly, I think most of my original interview was more about ways I could mess up and get my status revoked! Just make sure that you bring everything that they tell you to bring - including printing out the letter inviting you to the interview. Since you're a US resident you need to bring proof of your address (same with Canadian residents - for international residents, they don't require proof of address).


For making sure it is on your boarding pass. Make sure that your name on your ticket exactly matches that on your pass (e.g. if you have a middle name on the pass, make sure to include your middle name on your ticket). Most airlines let you put your KTN on your profile. Do so. If you don't have a profile (or it doesn't work), you can add it during your check-in process.
 
My parents just applied for Nexus. Less than 2 weeks letter they got the e-mail stating they could schedule the appointment. They go for the interview in early May. When I did mine a few years ago, it took about 3 months for me to clear the precheck. Best investment I have ever made. I always get precheck. And in the beginning when it didn’t show up on my boarding pass (southwest was having glitches in the beginning) I went to the ticketing agent and they were always able to add it. When I went for my interview at the Whirlpool bridge they said I could cross into Canada for free to take care of the global entry side of the pass. (They need to scan my eye).
 
The security line at MCO is why I got PreCheck too. Had an atrocious experience (well over an hour and then TSA opening another line behind us and letting all the people behind me through, so those people were through well before me. Came home and started researching precheck and got it less than 2 months later (and that was with having to order a new copy of my birth certificate from out of state). Nexus sounds great, but was not convenient for me and I have no travel plans abroad, so I just went with TSA PreCheck. It was so great a few weeks ago - I was through security in under 5 minutes while the regular lines were ridiculous!
We are going to get Global Entry. We plan to travel to Mexico next year so why not the benefit of TSA as well! We have United Credit Card, so you charge the fee on the credit card, then you are credited the Global Entry Fee. A win win! Does anyone know how long it typically takes to get an appointment at the airport?:confused::confused: Thanks!:disrocks:
 
as I've mentioned, if there is more than one international airport in your driving range, check all

when we needed the interview the first opening at Orlando International was months out

but at Sanford International appts were available the following week .... the difference in driving time for us was minimal
 
Thanks, will come in handy domestically! Going to Riviera Maya Mexico in 2020, will be beneficial! :cool1:
 

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